You throw the ball. You catch the ball. You hit the ball…Of course, baseball fans know that this line from Bull Durham is far from true, part of the humor of the movie and a huge part of the fun of the game. This blog is a space to talk about baseball, being a baseball fan, all of those things that make the game fun and the Angels, because they make baseball fun for me.

Transference (noun)The unconscious redirection of feelings about one object or entity toward another.

Thus, my desire to take all of my tiger stuffed animals (of which I have more than a few. I had a childhood love of them and then went to Oxy, whose mascot is – yes, you guessed it – the tiger.) and pose them underneath an overturned clothes basket “cage” for photos to post on MLBlogs was not, in fact, brilliant, it was merely transference. Transference of my anger with the Angels front office for failing to re-sign Torii Hunter over to the Tigers who successfully signed him this week. And, thus, the lack of photos of stuffed tigers, posed in makeshift cages or otherwise, in this blog post is a real sign of maturity and deep thought on my part, and not a sign of laziness over the realization that the tigers are all in box in the garage in a hard to reach place. Uh huh. Exactly. *nods*

Because, all joking aside, I am not really mad at the Tigers. No, really. I’m not. Torii Hunter the Tiger is going to take some serious getting used to (and, indeed, it took me a few days of reeling to simply get to the point where I could write this post) but I am glad that, if the Angels front office had to be stupid, at least Torii landed somewhere he seems to want to be. The man deserves to keep playing, the Tigers were smart to snap him up, and I understand that Angels made an economic decision here. As much as I still fully embrace the romance of that game, I am not so wrapped up in it that I mistake anything that happens in terms of player transactions in the modern game for a question of loyalty versus betrayal.

…But, no lie. I still think the Angels screwed the pooch on this decision. And it is for that reason, not because Torii was my favorite Angel, though he was (albeit on a long list), that I am livid with the front office right now. I think that keeping such an important clubhouse leader who is also a crucial bat in our lineup and presence to be reckoned with in the outfield should have been more than just a money decision. I think that throwing all of our eggs into one highly sought after basket like Zack Greinke, is dicey at best. And I think that, even if the Angels land Zack Greinke now, 3/5 of a scary good starting rotation combined with a lineup that once again has a crucial hole in it with no solution in sight sure doesn’t sound like it will look any better on the field than it does on paper. So, yeah, grumpy as hell right now.

But enough about that. Torii, thank you for every wonderful thing that you did in an Angels uniform. The robbed home runs. Your team first mentality. That sweet, sweet swing. Your “don’t even think about rounding third” arm. Your clubhouse presence and effective mentorship. Your humor and your wonderful way with us fans. I wish you well with the Tigers…just not too well against the Angels, you know. ;)

…aaaaaand, I still have lots to talk about, what with awards decisions and starting rotation decisions, and…and…well, okay, it’s November so I suppose it isn’t really that long a list, but still. However, it’s no joke when I say it took me a couple of days to get to the point where I could write about Torii and I figured this deserved its own post. So, stay tuned…

Because that doesn’t sound bitter or anything Mateo. ;) All jokes aside, it must have sucked to watch him play for the Angels as a Twins fan and now it will suck to watch him play for the Tigers. But as you say I’ll get over it…eventually.

Nice post Kristen and well deserved to play tribute to Torii. Classy guy.
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Hey! One of these days you should go to one of the offseason baseball events I go to.
-Emmahttp://crzblue.mlblogs.com
I’ll try to give you more notice especially if the event is close to you.

Thanks Emma! I really need to check out the schedule of offseason baseball events like now so I’ll have more notice. I keep meaning to go, and then I get busy. I wanted to go to the 50 Years of Dodgers and Los Angeles talk out at UCLA this week, oddly enough, but I live out by you. Getting to UCLA by 6 on a week night just is not happening.

Kristen-From what I’ve been hearing, Hunter is a great locker room guy, and should keep some of his Tiger team mates in line. Angels are still very strong, sporting one of the greatest rookies ever…I hope it works out for everyone.
–Mike

Torii is a great clubhouse guy. I’m sure he and the Tigers will get along just fine – the Tigers don’t seem to need too much keeping in line. As much as I joke about Verlander whining, that’s just rivalry talking. It seems like the Tigers have a pretty stand up clubhouse as it is. I hope thigns work out okay for the Angels. The team is strong but there are some worrisone holes in key places.

Thank you for dropping by my blog and commenting, doubleablues. No worries, all fans are welcome here. Besides, I have a huge soft spot for the boys in blue most times (just not during the Freeway series!) having been raised in a Dodger blue family. Yeah, Torii’s one of the great guys in the game. I envy Tigers fans the fun they will have for the next two seasons.

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